Category Archives: College of Arts & Sciences

Withdrawal =/= Failure

Today I will submit my first (and hopefully only) course withdrawal form.

At first, this felt like admitting defeat. I had postponed the decision for far too long because I dislike losing. Withdrawing from a course implied that I couldn’t handle the material and that I didn’t study hard enough.

Feelings aside, I ended up executing the plan because dropping organic chemistry was the best strategic move. I had enrolled in MCPHS’s organic chemistry course because I was trying to get pre-med requisites done while I was finishing my math degree. After my REU this summer, however, I realized that medical school was not the best way to pursue my passions. I didn’t drop the course immediately because I was still hoping it would count towards my bioinformatics minor. That ended up being moot because it’s impossible for me to get that minor, even with organic chemistry.

After the drop, I have more liberty to work on other classes. I can put the time in to get my PDEs homework done without having to look up all the problem tutorials online. I get to take algorithms this summer and I may even get to take a computer science elective with one of my best friends from 9^th and 10^th grade.

Positives outweigh the negatives on this one.

The Sledgehammer

Midterms just wrapped up, and the semester can sometimes hit like a sledgehammer.

Image result for sledgehammer

I wouldn’t say I’m getting hit like a sledgehammer: I’m wielding the sledgehammer to annihilate all my schoolwork. I’ve been prepping for this semester my whole academic career, so being ready for it now is natural. Certainly, swinging a sledgehammer is not the easiest of tasks, but I’m well trained and fit by now.

At the end of every day, I’m tired, but I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

I’m a little tense because I cannot look at my midterm grades yet. I damaged my laptop and the payment for the repair has not gone through yet, so there’s a temporary hold on my account. The good news is that every one of my Wentworth professors would share my grade with me – all I have to do is ask.

Co-op Payout

Last Thursday was the Wentworth career fair. All the students were doing their best to look appealing and professional. Many still had haircuts from over break, because apparently that’s what people do during breaks. Nearly every one of my peers had donned ties or skirts for the occasion, and it was a treat to see so many of them dressed up.

I went with the intent of talking to employers and scouting their departments. The Friday previous, I had committed to work for the summer doing biological research at Northeastern. I found a host of great companies, but most of them did not know they needed applied math majors yet. Of a gym full of employers, only 4 marked that they were looking for applied math majors. Lincoln Labs was the one that looked most enticing. I had a diverting and semi-fruitful job convincing the employers that they were indeed in need of math majors.

Also during this week, I have been accepted to two more co-ops in California and in Wisconsin as well as the Select Scholars program I was talking about before. I guess my trick is to apply broadly ask Lauren from Coops and Careers to make sure my application materials are hire-worthy. The more difficult task is keeping school priorities straight, but most students know how to prioritize academics.

HackWITUs So Cool

A hackathon is a friendly competition for students to network with other students – and sponsor representatives 🙂 – while making hardware or software tools and games. We provide free food, space, power, internet, other hackers, some hardware, some APIs, workshops, and prizes. Free.

One thing: we get a lot of questions about who can and cannot come to a hackathon. Everyone is invited and anyone should be able to enjoy the time. We have some events and workshops planned that require 0 computer science or programming experience. I’m not a computer science major…

Last week, the head of the group that is organizing Wentworth’s Hackathon announced that we have entered CRUNCH TIME. HackWITUs 2017 will be Wentworth’s first annual Hackathon. The planning committee has been preparing since fall semester for this event that lands on March 25-26. One of our members even made a blog just about us! We have our own website designed to spread information and show off our development skillz (even though it’s a static webpage, it’s cool enough that it feels interactive).

Behold our fancy logo and website!

We’ve been reaching out to sponsors all over the place to gather the resources to put this on for the people that come to the event. So far, we’re getting stuff/help from various departments and people around the school, Microsoft, Facebook, edX, kwidil, goPuff, and a few others. I always bring my resume to hackathons for a shot at jobs with sponsors; some companies sponsor hackathons and send a representative as a way of scouting talent.

Like us on facebook!

If you can’t come this year, this will be an annual event. So hopefully I can meet you next year :D.

Second Year Undergrad -> Grad school

Later today, my first graduate school application will be complete and submitted. Perhaps students halfway through their second year of an undergraduate degree do not apply for a Master’s, but circumstances are just too perfect.

There are a couple programs out there that accept applications from students prior to their senior year, like Boston University’s School of Public Health Select Scholars Program. Undergraduates in their junior year can gain early acceptance to the graduate program and complete their senior year at Wentworth. The program is a unique opportunity for undergraduates with an interest in public health to enroll in a top graduate public health program and join a cohort of peers through accelerated placement and subsequent graduate training in public health. The program provides early immersion in public health, giving students the opportunity to explore different options that are available in this field and connecting them with faculty mentors for academic and career advising. Image result for public health from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi39tH0uezRAhXK2SYKHez-CrUQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcaregeorgia.org%2Ffocus-areas%2Fpublic-health.cfm&psig=AFQjCNHB3EJGOd5DxCE_yQj6Ri7t-fRZgg&ust=1485954458954683

Our Applied Math Department invites speakers every week to talk about things someone can do in a mathematics-related field. Late last semester, two representatives from BU were here to talk about public health opportunities and Travis DiJoseph, associate director of academic affairs, came to speak too and mention their Select Scholars Program. There’s a lot of work in statistics and computation to be done in the public health field, and especially interesting to me are the bioinformatics and biostatistics applications.

I was filling out my CV to apply to the program and realizing how much more qualified I am now than I was than last year. Thank you Wentworth!
You can expect more details about building a CV in a later post.

Wolfram Visit

The start of this year has been absolutely crazy. I think perhaps I overcommitted and am in over my head. Regardless, cool things keep happening so I will try to keep it the work rate.

Last Tuesday, Stephen Wolfram visited the school to give a talk about what he does and what computational thinking can do for us. He is convinced that computational approaches to old problems are the future of science. In addition, he described ways that any number of normally boring processes can be automated, replaced, or obsoleted.

That’s the reason that he built his Wolfram Language. He was originally mostly a particle physicist, hanging around the same crowd as Einstein, but a bit younger; he was good friends with Richard Feynman.

Earlier that morning I had gotten to direct Wolfram to his presentation room and explain a little bit about the school. Because of this, some of the faculty from the computer science and math departments invited me to come along with them and Wolfram to dinner! They had made reservations at The Squealing Pig for that evening. By the time students attending Stephen Wolfram’s presentation were done asking questions, time had slipped away and the hour was slightly past 7:30.

Time had slipped so much, in fact, that we missed our reservations at The Squealing Pig and Wolfram opted to go to Au Bon Pain in the interest of getting food quickly. Talking is hungry business and everyone wanted to go home.

We did go to Au Bon Pain and talked for a long time there and two of the three students that came to dinner got autographed books.

The First Weeks at Wentworth

I am finally all set up to blog, and there is so much for me to say about the first 2 weeks of school that I could not possibly tell you everything in 1 post, so I will spread out the information. By now, I have met all my professors and befriended many of my classmates because most of my classes allow or encourage discussion or teamwork.

Settling into the college routine, classes themselves have not been tough yet, but I have a ton of responsibility. Among other lifestyle and living challenges, completing schoolwork is now solely my job alone. I think I am not the only one here that is used to having a little bit of help and supervision enforced on myself to make sure I keep up with classes. For the first couple days, I enjoyed the liberty, but I do not think I did well without the support – I already missed an assignment: an entire essay.

In response, I have a strategy; I try to get academic involvement with a whole bunch of people so that I have accountability. My friends and I make sure that we are all getting the work done for classes, we can go to each other for help, and we always have a group ready for projects. My professors know my name and that I am interested in learning, and I think they would show concern if I fell behind.
Not to mention all the other academic resources on campus. (see number 9 on this list my friend sent me) I have not needed the FSG or Learning Center help yet because we are still in the review stage for most of my classes, but I think that will change soon.

Speaking of changes soon, I will try to add more pictures to my blog in the future, but at the moment, my only camera is attached to the top of my laptop monitor.
Comment if there is anything specific you think I should add/remove in my blog or that you want to see.
– Steven Chris Joanis
Student